SoccerWise - Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps), USOC Recap & USMNT/CAN Roster Reactions

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

Tom & David have persevered through 24 hours of pain to come in for a huge Soccerwise show. Tristan Blackmon joins the show to talk about Vancouver's early success and his national team future. And of course the guys have to dig into the wild USOC results so far.6:15 USOC Recap20:30 Tristan Blackmon Interview39:45 USMNT Roster Reaction1:00:30 Canada Roster Reaction1:06:00 USOC Bracket Preview1:09:50 MLS Weekend Preview Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

David Goss, Tommy Scoops, Soccerwise is back and I think much too many people surprise. Soccerwise is back for a huge show here. We had a lot of messages from people. You could say it was expressing concern. I'm going to assume that it's disrespect because I don't understand some of the words. So I'm going to assume it's disrespectful and that it was trolling after what has been a trying 24 hours for myself and Tommy Scoops. If you have listened to this show before, you know we basically start every episode

with a side talk video coming from outside of MSG, the top of the billboard celebrating the greatest sports team in the history of the world, the New York Knicks. All giants can only be built up so that the fall is greater. And last night, the moment the game ended, one of my longest oldest friends, same age as me, has lived the same Knicks life I have lived. Texted I think that's the worst loss of our lifetime. And Tom, we are back here together to discuss it all. Yeah, it was tough. I sat just completely stunned.

Catatonic. Other than to pick up my phone to text you in a group chat. So that was fun. Right before we went live, when our SoccerWise account tweeted out that we were going live soon, I got a text from an agent who said, try not to cry on the stream. That's fair.

And I was so, so what? The only other one that compares, because the Knicks haven't been good ever to have devastating losses, other than, you know, draft lottery stuff was Which have been real by the way Carmelo Anthony getting blocked at the rim by Roy Hevert in the second round and I don't know 12 years ago So my dog is named Mello Mello is sitting here in this room with me while we were watching the game last night

And just completely stunned and I don't know what to do with myself. I told you that I I went to the NBA All-Star game last year in Indianapolis and literally every moment for them is a nice moment which is like great for you like cool and they like were like oh there's a city there's a state of basketball blah blah blah and it was just like oh whoa I had forgotten how much I hated them because we hadn't played in the playoffs yet right so it was like oh it's been a little little while last year, but this was before that. Oh Because this was two all-star games ago. So yeah, no now no question. Come on You know, I'd show up in the Halliburton shoes and be making fun of everything. I should be slipping everywhere

Oh, well, I didn't realize I can guard 94 feet physically But you're not I'm not allowed to kick you when I shoot and then we get a foul called. So all of that. It's been a long time. I was despondent. I had the US Open Cup golazo show that CBS does, which is awesome.

And like last night was the dream for it. Unfortunately, I turned into a ghost and was spiraling into despair in the middle of it and ended up not really probably consuming it the way that I would have liked to, to the point where I didn't even notice but my wife had left the room, went, got ready for bed, just calls out, are you back yet? And I was like, what do you mean? She's like, you haven't said anything in like an hour. And I was like, oh really? I didn't notice.

I was just boring a hole into Draymond Green and Shaq's face on the TV. Just so angry. And yet we go again. I'm ready to get hurt again. It's game one. I just grabbed all the texts the Celtics fans sent me and I'm just ready to reuse them in our favor.

Just one more thought when we get into the soccer. Goss, remind me, the Reggie Miller choke game, that's, did they win that series? Who won that series? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that was the year Reggie Miller won the NBA finals. Oh wait, no, sorry. The Knicks won that series. The Pacers have never won an NBA finals.

Reggie said yesterday when he talked about it he goes, for our first trip to the NBA Finals. I'm pretty sure it was his only trip, but if you put the qualifier in front of it you sound so fancy like you've got something else going on. Yeah, so we have a great show for you by the way. We will stop being sad, pathetic people. We are very, very fortunate. We're going to have Tristan Blackman join us live if you are watching via YouTube. And if you're listening to the podcast, it'll be an interview like we always do. He is joining us, of course, from Vancouver as the Vancouver Whitecaps prepare for what is a incredible week coming up that will end with a CONCAC champions championship match

down at Cruises Azul. Of course, as we know, single game knockout because it is a single game knockout competition all the way through and therefore it ends that way. A lot to talk to him about. We had Axel Schuster on this show. We talked a bit about what this year means for Vancouver. So we're really excited to dig into that with a player who's been in this group, what it's like working under Jesper Sorensen, what has made this the must watch team in Major League Soccer on one of the most successful runs

in the history of the league and maybe on the verge of winning a championship. We'll talk about national team stuff with him as well. So we've got that to look forward to. We've got a weekend preview coming up. We will talk about the national team rosters. There are obviously some huge surprises in this US group, both absences, like the Christian Pulistix of the world and the Unis Musas, and then the players that then got into it. We also have a Canada roster for this Canadian shield, I think is what they're calling it, a tournament that's coming up,

which then will lead into the Gold Cup, but I don't think it's their official Gold Cup roster. The US has won, will still still trim down and then as I Said we will talk about the weekend to come but we have to start With this US open cup and like as I said, I'm watching this next game. I've got to go Lazo on I've got FATMOB open and it's like Tuesday night was sort of what I thought Wednesday night would end up being. Tuesday night put me in a spot of like, ah, rotated teams. I thought it would be a little bit wild and wacky, not going to happen.

It's kind of just going to be run of the mill, one-zero wins, whoever can sort of gut their way through this. And every time I kept looking over or checking, it's red card goal, red card goal, red card goal. Till we ended with simultaneous PK shootouts between Red Bulls and FC Dallas and DC United and Charlotte happening at the exact same time. And then it sort of brought a little bit

of the magic of the cup back for me there, Tom. It was a wild night. It was definitely, again, there was just more games than there was on Tuesday as well. So, but man, like the way that things were ending at the same time all the games except for Philly versus Pittsburgh were close I mean it gets Austin Houston was decided by two goals But like you said for those two games to be coming down to a penalty shootout at the same time

Minnesota st. Louis was fun like I don't know man This was a this was a really good night for the US Open Cup. And now we're on to the quarterfinals. And at this stage, like you said, there was some rotation, but more teams kind of played start most of their starting 11s like then previous rounds and I get more so than Tuesday. Now you get to the quarterfinals, every team left should be fighting their best 11 because you were what three wins away from a trophy Here is the wild part The teams that played full strength groups for the most part lost and I think that's the part That's gonna be really hard to figure out. Well, one of them was st. Louis So, you know one of them was st. Louis Orlando at home. I would say Orlando played the quote-unquote stronger group

I would say Dallas although they were on the road, was closer to their starting lineup than what Red Bulls were. DC probably was the one that played the what you would say is the stronger group out of those two and DC was able to get the win at home. Let's dig into these two wild games though. So for Red Bulls, your guy Mohammed Sofo continues to put on a show, gets the goal in this one to make it 1-1. Lucho Acosta scores one of the best goals you will see of the year. It was like kind of had a little Dennis Berg camp in it. I've like touched to myself curling.

So now defenders don't know where I am. You could clearly see Isla and Nealis are worried about a PK. So they kind of lean off a little. Lucho smacks it so now 2-1. You're thinking this game's over. And then Emile Forsberg scores a free kick that he hits off the extra player on the edge of the wall into the goal. Wrong foots. I think it was Pais at that point. Then you go into extra time. You get a red card against FC Dallas. It goes to PKs and shout out to the coach. AJ Markucci, West Chester, Pennsylvania legend. One of my favorites covered him for a long

time with Red Bulls too, is a third division college player. He was one of the first drafted from the third division in a long time, ends up now he's kind of been waiting to get his opportunity to get in. The club clearly valuing him as the go-to backup now. And he was the hero in the shootout in regular time as well. Some big saves that he had to make. And the Red Bulls like survived this experience that it felt like Dallas was in the driver's seat.

Yeah and like you said like this was big for both of these teams given where things are for both clubs but more so for Dallas because you redo the team get Lucho Costa in to join with Petra Musa like rework the roster around him and it just hasn't been good this season. It hasn't, it's always felt a little off, a little slow, a little wrong. So to be up 2-1 on the road against the Red Bulls and to have that Lucho moment and then for it to be so heartbreaking at the end with the Forsberg goal and then going to penalty. So for Dallas, I'm very disappointed.

It's almost like every time they suck you back in, they break your heart. Finally this time I did it. But again, in their defense, that goal from Forsberg is just like, come on. You think of what if this, what if that, if it didn't deflect. Again, Paz going the wrong way because of the deflection nothing he could do there and shout out to me of course We're going with a little man bud rather than the flow. I think he looks better with the flow But it's like he looks I don't know man or with the flow. Yeah, it's just better. It's just right up there but yeah, so the the Red Bulls chasing a trophy I think is good, but

I'm super disappointed if I'm a Dallas fan, if I'm a Dallas player, somebody within that organization of how close it was to getting through on the road against the Red Bulls. And the Red Bulls weren't totally first string, but they had a strong enough lineup out there and for Dallas to have Lucho and Petter Musa starting is disappointing. Every time I watch Musa play, I'm sucked in. He's one of the best. He's one of the best all around center forwards in the league.

And you saw it in this game. He can drop off and create his touches clean. He understands spacing. He's still a high level athlete and he's an elite finisher himself when he gets into situations. You saw a bunch of that this game. I will say in the rotation of the Red Bulls it was Outside of Marcucci back six or seven strong and then they kind of rotated things in the attack And so it was not the easiest game for Lucho Musa to find You know and create chances and then you end up bringing Forsberg off the bench

Shuba Moteng comes in as the game goes along and we've talked about it It feels like for the Red Bulls They're probably an attacking piece short and this is one one of those games where you see it of like, you probably, if you had, whether it's Louis Morgan available or had brought in another piece, another DP attack or whatever, you probably could have rotated and kept one of them in

and they don't feel deep enough to do that. But coming off the Hudson River Derby loss, this is a huge result for them in a huge moment. And then on the flip side for DC, this is like what you have to play for at this point. And they showed it. They started their starters, they went for it. They played their full group

against a rotated Charlotte team. I think part of the spine you could say, right? Malanda, Ajumang on the field, Shaquille Marshall-Ruddy, I guess, is a starter now for this team. And then otherwise a chunk of rotation, Petkoich getting the start, Eric Williamson is not a full time starter getting in.

Still some threat, but I think overall it was what I saw was a stronger DC team and I think that's what you saw play out on the field and yet this is a Charlotte team that has a lot of danger and a lot of finishers. So you saw Ajamang get a goal, Sneg scored an insane goal to open things up. And then after you get the Tuiloma goal, which is, I think he was running the captain's armband, which I think is interesting for a guy who just has been there for a while and has not gotten into the team. Garrison Tupps, technically homegrown, center back, high up the field.

That's like a pretty clean touchdown. Technically homegrown, center back, high up the field. That's like a pretty clean touchdown. Doesn't take it too early, right? Sort of lets defense move, shifts it, cleans it up, and then he's able to put in the back of the net. Jackson Hopkins comes off the bench for them. And then the big story is that Jordan Farr, goalkeeper, subbed on in the 118th minute specifically for penalty kicks so I wrote

it down he saved the first shot on Malonda he saved the second shot on Pep BL then he saved the fourth shot from Tavash and then he saved the fifth shot from Liela Bada. Four saves! Played like three minutes of real soccer. He's probably still had to do like the warm down runs because he didn't actually get out and exercise. And yet he wins the game for DC United which might end up being the biggest win of the season. Yeah, look again like we talked about it on the show Tuesday like DC, I think I had them

as the team that needs this pretty bad because of where things are with this group and What a moment for far like you said like To save four shots in a penalty shootout not not misses saves Just another level. What a super fun story And I don't mean to step on what they're gonna have next but you know now they play Nashville next and you're so close that push it in push all in on this and try to stick around in the playoff run as well the team being where they are now versus what it was four to six weeks ago things were absolutely bleak absolutely seemingly hopeless and it seemed like not if but when Troy Luzane was gonna get let go

Troy Luzane has rallied this group and with no Christian Benteke, he's out for a couple of weeks with an injury. To win this game, to win this game in that way, and yeah, you could do the what if thing again, it's like it ended up being a penalty shootout, but whatever, don't put any answers, don't take anything away from this result for DC United.

And this is, you said it, like now going forward, I think teams are going to sort of lock in on this. This is that middle point of games are tight, they go to PK shootouts, it is, there's an element of skill, there's an element of luck. And then the teams that get that luck, that's where you are like, okay, maybe this is our year.

Right, and so I think for both these teams in Red Bull and DC, that's now what you'll probably see is like, oh, okay, the doors open for us. Can we take a shot at this? As you said, we will see DC play Nashville. We will see the Red Bulls play the Philadelphia Union, which I think will be a fun one for. Yeah, we've seen some really good playoff matchups between those two teams. Now you see it in Open Cup. I have to say this before we dig into some of these other games. You saw though, some of the question marks about this competition. It was empty stadiums.

Like for the most part across the board, it was empty stadiums. And I think that's like not knowing to draw that early, selling late and trying to figure out what to do. I think that's fatigue for a lot of fans because there are so many games. You have what the revs did, which was to go play in Providence, which I think is a cool

idea. I think it's not a coincidence that they haven't played in Providence in eight years. And then Rhode Island opens a new soccer stadium two weeks ago. That looks awesome. And now all of a sudden the revs are playing in Providence again for an open cup game. And I think that stuff sort of leads to like, oh, there's not as much excitement around this because it's not built up.

There's no history and tradition around it. It sort of just happens. And I think that's a little bit frustrating for fans. And I think this is the danger that this competition is in. And so I think for people, when you ask like, what can I do? I want this to matter, get people out. Like get out to games, stream games, talk talk about them go if you are in the area Because I think overall that you had that feeling of like this is this is MLS's threat when they're like

Oh, we don't know that we want to do this anymore And we all yell like you have to do this this has to matter we have to see that it matters and that's a lot On the clubs. It's a lot on the leagues I think trying to kill it is probably taking some of the heart out of it for a lot of people. And you could hear in the stadiums, like you could hear in Orlando and Red Bull and Minnesota, you could hear the sport of sections are there. You could hear the drums. You could hear that.

But everything you saw was empty stadium behind that. And then that's affected somewhat by the teams. The squads teams choose to put out there and the rotation that they put into it. Let's talk about some of these other groups though. I did my dramatic reading for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. I apologize, clearly this is not my week and I should not have associated you with me in any way.

That's on me and I'll take the L on that. But we had a Quinn-Kavin combo. You had a Philly team that outside of Kevinavin like really pushed back in a lot of their starters that hadn't played in Open Cup before. Danly Jean-Jacques, Frankie Westfield's in there, right? Damiani, all those players. And this is a Philly group that I think we probably said are one of the favorites in this, along with Minnesota, who came from behind with a rotated group and knocked off a full St. Louis team for the second time in a week. Yeah so we'll start with Philly. I really liked that it was not a fully rotated team and that would have been the I guess it would have been easy to do that against a USL club and then you know, hey open cup We want to use our full squad but to get Cavan Sullivan and Jesus Bueno with

And McConnally like I know that you know The other players on like haven't have started more games and have been more important as far as like depth and rotation But playing these players with just bench players I don't think is always that helpful you try to get everybody games and it's obviously difficult balance for Bradley car now and every Hit coach, but I think it's more Beneficial when for somebody like Kevin Sullivan to be out there with you know 70% of the starting 11 rather than it's just you It's a glorified second team lineup right so I liked that and it worked out well It was really cool to have Kevin Sullivan Quinn Sullivan

Combined in the build-up for a goal the Vasilev, that was a nice kind of comment. It was really great through the ball by Quinn Sullivan. Again, Damiani getting on the score sheet. That's exactly what you want. You play a cup game with, you know, your young DP forward and he scores, right? Like, so that was one. It was pretty straightforward. Like, I don't know how much more to dig into this one because Philly were obviously supposed to win that game and then Minnesota St. Louis we got the result we expected it just took a little while to get there right like so Minnesota go up with it with the Ebola goal and then Mark Hanich brings him back from down 2-1 to win 3-2 with two goals in three minutes

at the end the game poor St. Louis fans man just poor St. Louis fans it's it's at least they scored a couple goals. Yeah. But it still ends bad. I think having a lead which has been so rare for them and then losing it I think ends up being a worst case scenario for them. Which is like, oh, if we could just get ahead, can we keep things stout defensively? Markainic put through on the first on the second goal, which equalized

Three-minute gap between the two goals from our kainich. So st Louis takes the lead sort of all of a sudden at the same time It's like a five six minute gap middle of the first half and then all of a sudden you would get You give up the goal the other way and it just absolutely Craters everything that's happening with this team and they might be in a decent chunk of trouble But before we finish talking about that Let's jump into our interview with Tristan Blackman. He's gonna be joining us from the Vancouver Whitecaps We appreciate and taking the time. I assume straight out of training Tristan

Room Tristan, what's up brother? Just got a hydrate right? Yeah, I got to stay hydrated. You know it. What's the vibe in the group right now? You had a little bit of Canadian Championship this week, now going into the weekend. What's going on? Yeah, it's good.

First day back at training after yesterday's match. But yeah, guys are in a good way right now. Some guys are doing more recovery than others, but beautiful day out here in Vancouver, so hard to complain. We are very jealous of that. I think we both wish we were in Vancouver right now. Just maybe to escape from our own lives. We went through a whole long, sad thing to open up the show as well.

Overall, we want to talk about the Vancouver Whitecaps. We do it a lot on this show. You guys have forced the whole world to talk about you, to be the main topic. You've been there for a little bit. Talk to us a bit about what's changed. Like, we had belief in this group, we like this group a lot, and now all of a sudden

you are setting records in performances in multiple competitions. What's been the biggest shift over the last few months? lot and now all of a sudden you are setting records in performances in multiple competitions. What's been the biggest shift over the last few months? Yeah, I think it's hard to pinpoint and put it on one thing, but I think we have a really good core group of guys that have been together through ups and downs for the last kind of few years, at least since I've been here. And I think obviously when you go through things together, you build this kind of camaraderie with one another.

And I think this year was finally, we've shown that we've gotten over that hump that maybe we were trying to get over at the end of last year, going into the playoffs. But yeah, obviously, the coaching change is a big one. Obviously, that happens in sports, where you change coaches and you kind of see what happens with teams after that But I think that was huge for us

Yes for and yeah, and as well the assistant coach and then Building a relationship with the coaches that are here already that we have good relationship with but yeah coaching change style of play more freedom more responsibility as well. But I think a really good structure right now in the team and we're showing what types of players we can be. Yeah, so Tristan, bring me back to preseason. I know Jesper kind of took over pretty much like right

as you guys were breaking camp and whether or not you had an idea who it was gonna be. But what were the thoughts going in? Did you have really any, because a lot of us kind of in the media, like he wasn't a name that you were familiar with around here so like we didn't know what to expect, we didn't quite know the style so what were your first impressions and what were kind of those first training sessions where he's like building out his game model and trying to instill his philosophy into the group? Yeah, obviously we had, we were kind of in the dark in that decision making.

Obviously the club is handling those types of things. But yeah, from day one, you could tell he was very determined and wanted to make his mark not only on us but in the league. And I think obviously preseason you're working out kinks and trying to find style of play and who's going to play where and things like that, which is all normal. But I think just the way he handled things and the, I guess, commitment to the style of play and the structure that he wanted to have in the team really progressed throughout preseason and leaked into the first few games that you kind of saw, you know, maybe this is a different type of

Whitecaps Whitecaps team in the beginning of the year. And I think we've just built on that as games have kept coming along. Obviously, we've had a lot of games so far, but they've done such a good job. Definitely didn't know what to expect coming into this year with a few question marks, but it's obviously got off to a really good start. The style for us from the outside, it's must watch. And we have talked about Columbus

for a while in this league. You were part of an LAFC team, I'd argue, played the best style in the history of the league. How does this compare and contrast to that? How does it feel being inside of it? Yeah, I would say based on the years, you know, I was with the Whitecaps of four, whereas definitely a different style of play and then shifting to this one. It just seems like players are more free.

It's not as rigid, I would say, in the movements. And I think it suits all of our players, especially the midfielders, Sebastian, Kubas, Pedro Vite, where they have the freedom to make decisions and get in the game, get in more involved than they were before in previous years past. A structure defensively that's very solid that allows us to be aggressive and win challenges up the field and not kind of resort to staying back and letting teams kind of build momentum against us. And then obviously the Brian Whites and Ali A's and Jaden Nelson who have done well this year.

So I just think the style of play, obviously it's different than the LAFC where you control everything similar to a Columbus where you have the ball so much. But I think we've done a pretty good job of being on the ball and making good decisions. Obviously it's not perfect, nothing is and we work on things every week. But no, it feels good to be inside a team that is having a good amount of success. And then obviously young guys help you feel a little bit younger when you get on the older side as well. So that's good. Okay.

Well, let's relax. We're not talking senior citizens over here, but you're also doing yourself a disservice on the, you're talking to Brian White's and all of that. I think you're talking goal scorers, but come on three goals so far this season. Are you ready for the Kendall Waston center forward switching your career? It would be nice, man, if they keep coming. I know, like, you know, they don't come so often.

So I'm just, you know, I'm happy I'm finally getting on the score sheet. I mean, last year I didn't have any. So that was crazy. and then the year before I Had a few but no, it definitely feels good to get on the score sheet for sure The the huge one was at Pumas just take us into what you remember about that night and 88th minute they equalize What were you thinking and then you score in I mean talk about a celebration like whoo that was full-on Yeah, I mean crazy

I barely remember anything because I blacked out so hard but Yeah, I mean crazy moment obviously they scored late in the game and then I've said it before but yes for called me over to the sideline and told me you know Just go up there and try to help see if we can create a chance, you know And I've always tried to be a threat in training whenever I, you know, we play small side, I try to score goals and stuff like that. But obviously it's usually an 11 v 11. I'm not, you know, I'm not playing the number nine in training.

But yeah, I like to think that I have a good sense around the goal and I feel like I can help create chances for others as well. But yeah, when the ball, the ball got chipped up to Brian, he had a good flick, obviously went out to Ocampo, Eddie. And as soon as it left his foot, honestly, like I just had this feeling that it was gonna hit the back of the net, kind of a crazy, I mean, everybody was asking like,

why I hit the ball so hard when I shot it. You could have just tapped it in, but no, I mean, crazy moment. I mean, obviously for myself, but for the team and for the club. Really cool celebration. Everybody ran out on the field and stuff like that. So it was cool to be at the, I guess, the heart of that. So on this magical run to the Cogutep Champions Cup final, you guys have not had any easy

series. Like you start with Saprissa. That was a really difficult opening round draw. you go to Mexico and beat Monterey you go to Mexico and beat Pumas you dismantle into Miami each leg and now you're in the final against Cruz Azul what has this run kind of been like from the inside and and I don't know if you'd answer this honestly if the answer is no but looking looking at this tournament in preseason, were you like, hell yeah, we're going to do this? Yeah, obviously it's a hard question to answer, right?

Because you have no idea what's going to happen with the year and managing MLS regular season with the Champions League and stuff like that. But I mean, like you said, what a crazy run. All the teams we've matched up against, you know, Sap a pretty some Monterey Pumas all these teams Miami And they've all posed different threats and different challenges in each game. But I mean What a show of resilience from a team that you know, maybe nobody would have even thought of To come out on top like this it just shows the commitment we have to one another as a team

and the commitment the coaching staff has to, you know, helping us grow as players. And I think, yeah, we're going in a really good way. I mean, finals next week, what a game to look forward to. So, exciting. Yeah, one more on that one. You know, what is the, what are the thoughts? What are you looking at with Cruz Azul?

And I guess just the moment in general. Yeah, huge moment, huge moment for the club, for all the players involved, for the coaching staff, everybody here definitely feels like it's such a cool time to be a part of this organization. And obviously we have a lot of other, I mean, we have a few more games before that, so we got to focus on those, you know,

we had Salt Lake away and then Minnesota before that. But yeah, such a big moment. Cool time, like I said, to be a part of this club and everybody's definitely looking forward to getting on the pitch and hopefully getting that result. Tristan, you don't have to say anything. I'm just going to say it's absurd that Vancouver has a midweek game next week before a CCC final. I don't need you to say anything.

You're not even here. We've never even met. David Goss is saying this. It is absolutely ridiculous and I can't believe it's happening. But we are so excited for that CCC final. Let me ask you this though. Big Picture, you talked about it. You've been in Vancouver for a couple of years.

We had Axel Schuster on this show a few ago, and we talked to him a little bit about what's going on Big picture with the club. I'm curious just from your own experience. What does Vancouver mean to you? What does it mean when you go into Miami and Monterey with that crest on your on you and represent this city? it's I you and represent this city? That's, uh, I think it's a cool question because coming into my first year here, I had no idea what to expect. I had come from a, you know, an LAFC team that was dominant in the league. And, um, I was obviously with Bob Bradley for my whole time at LAFC.

Um, so it was kind of a culture shock, you know, coming to Vancouver at first and not really knowing what to expect. But I'll tell you what, I mean, the four years that I've had here have been incredible. Like obviously, you know, there's stuff on the field that always can be out of your control and things that can go up and down. But I think this year has finally been a culmination of all the hard work everybody's put in since I've been here. I mean all the players that have joined and no it means so much to wear the crest you know. I love Vancouver my family loves Vancouver the team like we have such a good group of guys and

yeah we try to make everybody in Vancouver proud every time we put on that jersey so it definitely means a lot. One of the things we talked about with Axel of course is you know the unknown of ownership future where the team is and they were explaining to me the Vancouver history a little bit of you know Grizzlies left and all of that. Are the players talking about any of this like is this a factor inside the locker room at all? No, I wouldn't say so. I think early in the year, since that was something that had been talked about so much in the media, and then we didn't have a coach yet, those kind of things.

So then I think it was more of a conversation, like what's going to happen with the club. But I mean, since we've hit the ground running, I mean, I haven't heard, you know, any real conversations about it. We're all just focused on what's going on right here and making this year the best year that we can. So yeah, I would, I would say that's not really a talking point for us right now. Yeah. So shifting gears kind of to the national team, you were on the preliminary roster for

the gold cup for the United States. Obviously that roster came out today and you weren't on it so Yeah, I guess just generally did you have any conversations with Pochettino or the coaching staff and were you kind of? Disappointed in this career year you're having to have not been included on this gold cup roster Yeah, obviously Disappointed I Think any competitor would be disappointed that you don't get that final call in. But I'm still happy with how I'm performing and I think that's the biggest thing. All I can control is how I'm doing on the field and how I'm helping others around

me. So like I said, definitely disappointed. I wish I was in there. But at the end of the day, I'm just focused on being here with the Whitecaps. I didn't have any conversations with the US. There was little stuff about, you know, surveys and filling out some things with the strength staff and stuff like that, you know, with the potentials coming in and how they, you know, how you get ready for games and training and stuff like that. But there was no direct real line of communication, I would say. But yeah, like like I said at the end of the day now I'm focused on being here you know with the guys since we actually have a lot of guys going away on international break. We have a very active Discord

community and a large chunk of them are Canadian so they asked us specifically to ask you about this and we did a Google research. You said you've lived in Vancouver for four years. Understanding it's three to five years for residency. You talked about your love for Vancouver. We have heard some rumors recently. Have you thought about Canada as an option? Have you spoken to them at all? Yeah.

So obviously I'm in a situation where the residency, I think, yeah, it's like five years is where you can potentially become resident. This is my fourth year here in Vancouver, so at the end of the year, it could be five or at the end of next year, going into World Cup, whatever. Yes, I've had a conversation with Jesse. It was a good conversation. Just getting to know me, kind of like, you know, who I am, touching base, nothing real concrete. Yeah, it was a good conversation, but yeah,

I'm not sure what it looks like in terms of the whole process of that developing into something, but I, you know, I hear there is a possibility for that, if that's the way that my camp wants to go. So yeah, at the end of the day it was a good conversation, but nothing concrete as of right now. Is Ali Ahmed, is Sam Atacube, are they throwing little breadcrumbs in, are they talking to you? Yeah, I know. I mean, look, it's funny because when we first came here, it was always like, oh, you know,

Canada, you know, maybe you could play, you know, eventually. And this is a few years ago. Right. Obviously, Richie Larré was here at one point, Sam came in at the same time, and there was always a joke going around like, you know, about certain guys. Oh, you know, would you play for Canada? Blah, blah, blah. But yeah, it's interesting that it's a potential possibility,

obviously. So yeah, I told somebody earlier, I don't have a crystal ball. I don't know what's going to happen in the future. Right now, I'm focused on being here with the guys while everybody's gone. I think we have nine guys away on international break. So I'm one of the guys that's going to be here.

So at the end of the day, I'm focused on being here and trying to get results for the club right now so it sounds like a long-term pursuit going all the way back to Richie Luraya days yeah I love the long-term vision by the Canadian players and Richie's the king of concav we talk about this all the time no one draws a pk like Richie you know he's out here recruiting he does everything off the field he's a legend man shout out Richie Luraya You know he's out here recruiting. He does everything off the field. He's a legend, man. Shout out, Rachael Lurrea.

You mentioned though, a few more games coming up. You got RSL this weekend. You just played them. So it's this odd sort of like quick turnaround. It was not an easy game, but your goal scoring exploits continue to astound us all from the outside. What did you see from RSL?

What's sort of the conversation this week about what this matchup is and what the focus is? Yeah, obviously I'm sure it'll be a similar team they put out, but you have to deal with going there, the travel, the altitude, you know, the way the ball flies there. It's totally different than how it is in Vancouver. The turf, you know, the grass.

So, no, it's gonna be, it's always a tough matchup going on Salt Lake and playing there. But yeah, I mean, we're gonna look at video, you know, tomorrow before we travel and, you know and look at things that we want to do and how we want to exploit them. So yeah, big matchup. And then midweek, back home against a Minnesota team that's doing really well recently with a familiar face.

Julian Grassl just got there as well. So it'll be good to see Julian. But yeah, two big games before, obviously, like we said, the final. Yeah, so with like we said, the final. Yeah, so with the finals upcoming, a huge, huge game for this club. You guys are flying in the Western Conference in a regular season. So again, I know that it's one game at a time, all that, particularly with the final coming up.

But what are the goals here for the rest of the season? Could this be a truly, truly special campaign for the Vancouver White Cups? Yeah, that's the hope, obviously. I think every time you go into a season, it's how can we prepare ourselves the best to make the best run? And I think, yeah, we've shown really well in the league so far. We've gone through a little stretch here where, you know,

we're seeing some things that we want to keep working on. But at the end of the day, obviously, you know, we want to focus on this game against Salt Lake in Minnesota and There's a huge game, you know a final to win a trophy that which would be massive for the club but then after that it's back to you know back to the regular season and You know getting as many points as possible. I've won a supporter shield once before with LA. I would love to do that again. I think it's a huge trophy and I mean, to be able to say that you were the best in the regular season.

Obviously it's different in our league versus other leagues where, you know, basically that's a champion elsewhere, but what a cool opportunity to keep pushing that envelope as individual players and for the club. And I think this could definitely be a special year for us. Well, CONCACAF competition and MLS on both sides. So I'm sure in December and January,

you're ready to sleep for a little bit, but we're hoping to help celebrate with you here at Soccer Wise, what will hopefully be a Vancouver win and second ever MLS victory in this competition, the history right there on the verge, a couple of league games though to go. Before then, we appreciate you taking the time to join us here in the midst of all of this and good luck the next few games.

Oh, thanks guys. I really appreciate it. You're the man. Thanks Tristan. Thanks guys. Awesome for Tristan to take the time joining us. Thank you to Vancouver Whitecaps, of course for setting that up and thank you to all of you for listening live in there with us or if you're listening via podcast. It has been fun to watch this Vancouver team play. Tom, I think you felt it from what Tristan said of like, there's freedom, not as much structure. And yet for us, it looks so structured. And I think it is because of the DNA of all these players being on the same page. Yeah. and then like the line that I liked the most was,

yeah, we kind of have more freedom, but more responsibility. And I think that that's a fair trade-off. And again, I've said this about Jesper Sorensen. Again, I think my favorite quality of him, I guess beyond like the game model and how he's empowered, particularly the midfield trio, but for him to be brave himself.

And that's part of courage of saying that like hey I'm gonna give you guys ownership authority and a little bit of freedom but that comes with responsibility and I'm gonna trust you yeah I'm gonna start this by trusting you to fulfill that end to fulfill the the the responsibility part to earn your freedom and I you can you can see it on the field and then another Thing that I found interesting was he was talking about like how they don't you know, you know Lafc we controlled the ball much more and I was like when I think about this Vancouver team Like I think about them controlling the ball and it's just like

part of me was it does that mean that there's another level of like ball control that they could have because I Feel like they're controlling games very much already. I think there's this balance that you find what I'm reading into of LAFC you controlled it because it was scripted by Bob that you were going to control all of these movements and all of these actions and the flow of the game was completely constricted because of that which to us from the outside was beautiful and overwhelming, but it was much more managed where this is,

you talk about trust and freedom of like, if you go and make good passes and you play the right way and you always are an option, then I can let you open up the game, but they're sort of figuring it out more as they go. And I think you see that as it plays out of like Pedro Vite's role shifting and finding the game as the as it goes along and Eddie Ocampo, right? He's making the run to get back and defend. So he has the freedom to attack when he wants to. And

I think that's sort of what I was getting from that. And I think you're absolutely right. Like this feels towards the peak of anything we've ever seen in MLS. And Tristan would know because he's lived through that peak and he is, I think, seeing a little bit of that difference, but also difference in how it plays out and like the pre-planned motions versus the natural ones and all of that. And I think one of the things that's really impressive is we sort of asked this question like where does Vancouver go? High end talent, DP talent, where does it take you? one of the things that's really impressive is we sort of asked this question, like, where does Vancouver go?

High-end talent, DP talent, where does it take you? Because we like this roster. And I think as now I come back and look at it, reason we like this roster is because at the middle it is so strong. The floor is really high and it's a lot of players. The depth in the middle is really strong for an MLS team where normally you see it more varied.

And I think this is how you weaponize that, is by saying, okay, rather than us setting up so that we can play through one superstar, right? We're gonna build the game so a Vander has space to attack. I'm just using a random example. We can weaponize this by saying, everyone has the freedom to pop up and do things because we can trust everyone to be clean in possession,

make the right decisions and defend their position. And I think that's what you're seeing from this team play out. And it is the way to take advantage of what Axel Schuster has done well, which is continue to hit on these mid-level additions for not a ton of money, trades in the league, draft picks, whatever that they know can perform at a decent level and felt like the ceiling was there if it was activated and now You're seeing it be activated Yeah, and like their best additions like again Ryan Gold obviously it's it's

Unfortunate that he's been injured again. It's equally really impressive that they probably should ask them about Forgot what I'm not gonna put him in a bit. Hey, by the way, do you have an update on Ryan Gold? Like that's not fair Mike in the face Capital J journalist Tom Boulgard here. Yeah No, like so yeah, and it doesn't seem like that there's been that progress for Ryan Gould I don't think that we've heard I mean, I know Jesper Swanson gets asked about it daily I don't think that we've seen him in full team training So I'm again I could be wrong unless that there's a new update, but that doesn't seem to bode well for the final, which

is unfortunate. But again, like, so putting that aside, like Ryan Gold has been their big like, let's go get a star. Let's go get our version of a star, somebody who is going to work for the team and do everything. He's been exceptional, but their best signings have been Brian White, trade with the Red Bulls, Tristan Blackman, trade through the expansion draft, Ranko Veselninovic, really good signing. Obviously not like that was really good scouting and really good deal making. And then Kubas was a DP signing, but not quite to the level of even like an OB and Wobodo in terms of like fee and salary. So like to your point, they are killing it on these like undervalued air quotes

signings that turned into stars. And I think that was what we were looking at the same last year. Like we felt similar. We were like, I like a lot of these pieces, but you know, do they need to go spend $5 million because like, is that what's going to unlock this group? And it's like, oh no, like what Jesper Sorensen has done to unlock it without having to have you know, you're a Vander or you're a Cucho or you're insert

Whoever else that's a star in this league The two that really pop out to me are Jay Nelson and Emmanuel Sabi of like we've seen MLS teams try this before Didn't really work out in Europe. Can we be a restart spot for them? I think MLS teams are still talking to Matthew Hoppy about being this for him. Like this just it doesn't really work Yeah, it doesn't really work for MLS teams So for them to have hit on those to find the right players who are in the right mindset to put them in the right Situation, I think that's really awesome for this midweek game next week like Bella Halbouni

Jeevan Badwell like get your scout on for Minnesota because you are getting 90 minutes in that one It is it's absurd that you can't just move this one game Like they haven't moved they've moved game times for I think it was the Miami series because the way the CCC stuff lined up it was not enough days off in between but like They cleared RSL schedule. They cleared TFC schedule when they went into these finals. Now you've got Vancouver in this spot and you've got them playing three games in a week. Not just like, oh, can you get them a week off? Three games in one week is absolutely absurd coming off a week. That was three games in one week as well. So I think all that's pretty frustrating, but

let's dig into the rest of our conversation. And we talked to Tristan a little bit about this US men's national team roster, which he was not a part of. He was on the preliminary group. I think this was a preliminary group that came out and you were like, okay, most of the names we expect are there. And then the final group as it came out, we got sort of the reports over the last 24 hours that a Christian Pulisic sort of asked from his camp to not be a part of this after what's been a long couple years heading into a World Cup. Eunice Musa as well. We already knew the Club World Cup players wouldn't be available for this.

And then we see a couple surprises from Mauricio Pochettino's camp saying that Josh Sargent from soccer reasons not a part of this group, which I think is really surprising. And then you see a team that has some really exciting pieces and a team that has some maybe shocking additions. Yeah. I mean, I usually would prefer to focus on who's there and then talk about who's not there. But the top line from this roster is who's not there.

You already knew you were going to be without McKinney, Weya, and Gio Reyna because of the Club World Cup. I haven't seen anything about Zenday Haas. I don't understand how he's not on this roster, or at least preliminarily on this roster, because if Club America beat L.A. FC, then you can't select him. Because this group also is bigger than what the Gold Cup roster will be be because it is technically for the two friendlies before. So you could have thrown him on this and then trimmed him down. Yeah or like again I don't know when I just don't understand. I don't know what this guy needs to do but even that we were talking about how good it was going to be to see him with most of the starters and like now most of them are gone.

Like Pulsic asked to not be there. Younis Moussa asked to not be there. Younis Moussa asked to not be there. Anthony Robinson, they didn't say that he didn't like whether or not it was like a decision driven by him, but they mentioned he's dealt with some small injuries at a very long season and there's two ways to look at this like one I get it man. These are incredibly long grueling seasons. It might be the right decision for each of these players to have more time off this summer, to be ready next summer,

to be in the best possible way they can be and not absolutely dragging at the end of another long season because they got two weeks off this summer because of the gold. So I get that, but look man, like Pochettino, his whole thing has been... When I was playing for Argentina, I didn't care if it was a World Cup final or friendly or scrimmage or training session or a couple of guys getting together to play pick-up. Putting on the Argentina shirt was paramount and that's what we need here.

And then, oh Christian, no you don't need to play. Oh Eunice, you don't need to play. Oh, Eunice, you don't need to play. Oh, like, it just sends mixed messages. And again, like I'm holding space for like this might just be the right decision. Particularly there's like been reports in Italy that Pulsic has had a bit of a hip issue. And particularly there, like that's more of like managing an injury than rest, which would make sense. But just you can't be this has to mean more. This means everything. I, you know, I don't need to select players just on talent and he just like them based on mentality and then oh Eunice you know don't don't worry about it oh oh Anthony I know you had a long season right like so it's a mixed messaging uh doesn't quite land well um and again I know it's I

know it's a very thankless spot it's I think it's sure to show us how messy the preparations been that just that this is necessary, right? You would have liked to have had a four-year cycle where you planned in Christian Pulisic's rest. And it was not maybe in this last sprint of can we figure out what this team looks like and figure out how to make it cohesive with a new coach who hasn't really had opportunities in a tournament setting to train day in and day out. And so ideally you would have had this be a four-year cycle and you would have said, all right, Christian's going to take this summer off. We're going to not call him up this fall. And that never really happened because

you had interim coaches and coaches that were coaching for their jobs in Copa America. And not that he wouldn't have come to Copa America, but still like, that would have been the process you would have gone through to try and avoid a moment like this. Now you're talking about like, just can you do the best with what you have? Which I think is where US soccer says to Christian Pulisic seemed like we totally understand

because this is where we're at now. And you would hope to just have never gotten to this point. And I think it makes things really hard because what we talked about was it makes things hard to judge other players because part of it is how do they fit with the guys that you expect to be on the field. And it makes it hard for Pochettino to try and figure out

what group he's gonna put together. But now let's talk about the guys who are here. And I think there's a lot of fun names. We have talked about Matt Friese on this show. The performances for NYCFC have been there. He gets called in with Patrick Schulte and Zach Steffen alongside Matt Turner to fight for that goalkeeper position. Max Starfstein has worked his way into this team.

I think he holds an interesting spot because of the way he attacks. Now No Jedi is this one that he plays in. Alex Freeman in this group as well. I think it's super exciting to go with the Chris Richards, Miles Robinson, Tim Reams of the world. Yeah. So first of all, in the chat, Aaron Ginsburg says, wasn't the rest for these guys the Copa America knockout rounds? Just a good bit. And like that's also part of the context here. It's not just that like, hey, this is the last tournament before the World Cup, but it's also they laid a goose egg at Nations League they were all for the Copa America again I

know that that wasn't Puccino but having a competitive tournament with your best players would be nice given how bad the other ones have but again leaving that aside and kind of settling on some of the players that are here Alex Freeman man he's been awesome he's been I think him and Andy and Harv been the two best right backs in the league. And obviously they play different styles and have the different strengths, but I'm really glad to see him in this camp.

If he was a left back, I'd be asking for him to start. But like with him and Serginia Odessa, I'm curious to see what the minutes split's gonna be. Left back, I'm worried about. Like, I, DeJuan Jones, obviously we're big fans and I hope that he gets a real run here. And Orson, like, I'm wait, like again, he's also a very good player,

but just the role for Van, for Van, for Columbus is so specific, not the same as the national team. And like, again, I'm not saying that he can't do that. It's just, it's just really, really different. It is very different. It actually probably fits Gold Cup Well of like yeah, you're gonna have a lot of possession They're trouble right now is breaking teams down who sit in on them or at least that's the problem

we've seen for the last year because those have been a lot of the matchups and so this is probably a Good setup for him to prove himself in and thought he did similar in the January camp of like, he helped them create chances, right? He was there for the big switches, beat guys 1v1. So I think your question marks are fair. And I don't know that we'll really see it tested in this camp because of the weird matchups. Although the friendlies to go into this are strong matchups against, I think it's Turkey and Switzerland before this play. So maybe if he gets an opportunity there, that's a big chance. Let's move into midfield there, because I think this is the most exciting part of this team. Quinn Sullivan, I think, deserved the call-up, got there.

Sebastian Burrhalter has deserved it. He gets there. Jack McVean comes back in. Malik Tillman, unbelievable year with PSV Aidenhoven. I love watching him play. But you also have Tyler Adams and that's Lynch pin, which is, okay, this is the thing we want to see. How do players fit with Tyler Adams? Because there's not a world in which we get to the World Cup next year and Tyler Adams is not one of the best 11 players and is not on the field if he's healthy. So that's a really cool spot to see

how does a Burrhalter, how does a Luca Dellatorre, whoever it is, how do they fit with him? How does a burr halter? How does a Luca Dellatorri whoever it is? How did they fit with it? Right. Um, so Johnny Cardoso is somebody that he's been much better for club than country and like I think he's gonna put it together for Country, but this would be a really nice time for that to happen for him for the for the program the player that I think has the most pressure at the gold cup is Malik Tillman because He's phenomenal for PSV and particularly down the stretch what his contributions like they do not win the title without what he's done down the stretch and obviously Ajax falling apart he can't control that he's like he's just so so good and he's almost been like how do you fit him in alongside Pulisic and Reyna and Weya and McKennie and it's just like they were trying to

figure out where the best spot was for him to get minutes and to be the best version of himself we don't have those issues now And I think it's the opposite of a Zendaya situation here with like if Malik Tillman can be The 10 or like I think that's where you probably play him or maybe as an like a inside foe or like I don't I don't know Well, whatever it is if he's kind of like your usage rates has to go up. Yeah, I think that suits him very well So I'm really looking forward to him at this gold cup. And again, like I had said, like Johnny Cardoso, some big performances. But so if you see a midfield trio of Adams, Cardoso and Tillman, that's really strong.

Like that's again, I know McKinney is going to be in there, but like that's a potential like starting World Cup trio. Now do you see that scenario in which the star of Andor Diego Luna plays out on the wing or are you putting him on the bench? So I like I think that both of them can like it'll be super interesting in training for them to find there aren't many wingers here. Right. That's again, I don't understand Zendaya's not being on the road. And like again, maybe this is all because I'm really dumb in two weeks when like if LFC beats Club America and then Zendaya gets added It might sound dumb right now if we're being fully honest

Um, but so I think one of Luna or Tillman in the best 11 of this group One of those two guys are playing on the wing. It's like an inverted winger with which is Orson or Dewan Jones overlapping It's just who's like I would probably lean Tillman as the 10 and Luna in the left one because like he's done that so much for Yale Salt Lake. But like I think that both of them playing together. Yeah. This is a huge chance for both of them to sort of like be the engine of the attack. My guess would be if you end up in a 4-3-3 which I don't know is a guarantee. I have no idea. Yeah. Just none whatsoever. There's a lot of center forward options here. They might be the players you want to see. Maybe that's the setup you choose.

But if you do end up in that, I think Quinn Sullivan probably goes into that quote unquote winger conversation because of the way he plays for Philadelphia and what he can do. Also because of his service. I think he's been really, really dangerous with early service, service to the near post,

cutting inside, curling to the far post, all of that. If you've got a Patrick Oshemong on the field, if you've got, who else in this group, Brian White, Damien Dutz, all these players, how'd you write? They're all big targets in the box. So I think Quinn Sullivan has a really interesting role to play. This is a funny gold cup. I think back to 2009 and 2013, two gold cups going into world cups where they were clearly not first teams and you came away with like real winning players

That became major parts of the group going forward 2009 was like Stu Holden and some of the young attacking pieces like that 2013 was of course when Landon came back and put on the sunglasses and that whole thing and Again, you had players that broke through in that where you weren't sure where they stood in the bigger picture Again, you had players that broke through in that where you weren't sure where they stood in the bigger picture But you go you're blooded in in big moments you play in big crowds you play against and El Salvador and New Mexico and here now a Canada and some of the top teams in the region in front of big Atmospheres and like you can earn your spot going forward

so I think there's real opportunity for a lot of these players to sort of take this and and sort of Establish themselves in the group on the Canada side. Oh Real quick we talk about the forwards real quick. Oh, you like forwards you like people who say like so I do so like maybe the argument that we might see some sort of like a three five two situation Is that they called up four center forwards and five? I call it four and a half because how'daji Wright has played as a left winger, but like he's come up as a center forward, right? Like they have a ton of center forward options

and like calling both Ajumang and Brian White to go with Balgun Damian Downs. I'm very excited to see Damian Downs. So maybe that lends credence to what the formation might be, but again, who knows? I don't know how Josh Sargent can be a football decision. There has to be more here. Yeah. Like, again, I don't... We both love Patrick Gajemang. He has three goals and 13 appearances this season. Josh Sargent was the best center forward in the championship. You cannot select one of

those players and not the other and call this a footballing decision. One of the quotes Pochettino had was something to the effect of like, hey if you're coming here to see your friends and play golf and hang out, no that doesn't work for me. And he didn't say that and like directly say that any player, but there's no sergeant, there's no scally, like it only it's only gonna create speculation because again there is no world in which a player who had 15 goals and 5 assists in 2500 minutes for Norwich recognized as I believe his team of the season for the championship, Sheffield Wednesday striker Josh Windass was saying he was the best center forward in the league this year there's no way that you can say that's a footballing decision when again we we love Osmong, he's our guy. He's three goals in 13 games

Damian Downs had an excellent season. He's here on merit He had ten goals in the second division in Germany, right? Like if we're talking about footballing decisions, it's just productivity. Josh Sargent surpasses all these guys. Yeah Yeah, I fully agree with you And and maybe we hear a larger story out of this. Maybe there is some level of injury concern that- Maybe that too, yeah. Was worded as footballing reasons

and that's what it ends up being, I don't know. But I fully agree with you. And I think we've all wanted to see him healthy and see him get minutes. And now that you have, he's the player you thought he was. He's both a finisher and a creator. And that's one of the things this team's crying out for because at its best you've got finishers on the wing. You've got Weya, you've got Pulisic, you've got finishers coming out of midfield.

That needs to be part of the role for the center forward and he would seem to be the perfect fit for that as well as a guy who has gone out and challenged himself and tried to get better. Patrick Oja-Hive right now, hoping that he ends up being that player and has scored a couple goals recently, so maybe he ends up being that guy. If Brian White doesn't get minutes in any of these games, something is going to be set ablaze. Okay. Good to know New Jersey is locked in and paying attention. I'm going to keep up in this ante because I said if he wasn't on the roster something

was getting set on fire. And we're here. We're not satisfied. We're not satisfied at all. Let's do Canada real quick. Tristan Blackman, as we said, not available for this one. Rumors around Sebastian Burrhalter. Clearly that didn't happen.

An up and down roster. Now this is a roster for this Canadian Shield, which is happening in Toronto against I want to say it's Ivory Coast in Ukraine. Not 100% sure on the matchups. Jesse Marsh said that Mois Bombito will not be at the gold cup due to a wrist injury and then UEFA Champions League qualifiers. I think that's fine. This group's been together enough.

You know what you have in him. Alistair Johnston should be at the gold cup, but not in this group. I think that's because of the games he's played for Celtic, giving him a little break. And Stephen Ustakio, they're saying, could still join for the gold cup, as well as Tejan Buchanan and Jonathan David, but they are not immediately in this group. And so you've got a team, I think, for Canada where you've got some young guys who've got a chance to prove themselves. Jada Nelson and Nathan Saliba, I think, are two of the biggest ones. Tani Oluweshe has played well for Canada and has probably

put himself in a spot where he's going to get starts in this group. And if he plays well enough, it's his spot to lose, which I think is really exciting for him. But those are the two. And Jesse talked about Saliba. We talked about him on the show last week I think it was. It's been a tough year for Minnesota. He has been a bright spot. Like even in that destruction by Toronto FC, you saw what he's capable of. He's a two-way player. He's clean in possession. He strikes the ball pretty clean. I think he's been asked to do a little too much at Montreal. And I think part of that is an unfair situation that Georgi Mihailovich and Ismael Kone were capable of that. And that's not his fault.

But also, I don't think he's the same type of player. And so I'm excited to see him come into this Canada group. And I know Jaden Nelson sort of lost his spot at times with Vancouver because they've been so good. But he's been awesome. And he has 1v1 ability out wide, but also can come inside and play possession where Schaffelberg struggles with that a little bit more. Tejan Buchanan hasn't fully been fit. I don't know that they have that exact player who's more versatile.

So if you think the game is gonna play out one way and it doesn't, he could still adjust for you on the fly without you having to make a substitution. Yeah, and like Canada being able to call on one of Jada Nelson and Schaffelberg at any time is really awesome. Again, there's obviously so many other like dangerous 1v1 players like Intentional Buchanan and Alfonso Davies right now. Obviously not now because he's injured, but to be able to have those two types of profiles like the US don't have that right now. And Canada has two of them that could be very useful and like specific type of players like again not to do a disservice to them to suggest that they can only come in off the bench for 12 minutes right but like having that

option and knowing that if you can start one of them and you still have the other one to come off off the bench or if they start together that's fine. Two players that I'm looking at actually I'll say Saliba as well he's just really good I'm still shocked that he didn't leave in January I gotta imagine that he's gonna leave in the summer be the next Montreal graduate to go to a European club and continuing that development by the way Kone scored a banger yeah yeah that was really I like that that came up on like reddit MLS like that's when you know it's gonna be good when it's like I played here for a while. You guys got to see this. So yeah, looking forward to that stuff. But for me,

Promise David and Daniel Jepsen are two guys, because we haven't seen a ton of them, obviously, because they just kind of committed to Canada. A guy like Promise David came from the Estonian league where he scored a ton of goals. And then he went to Belgium and he continued that kind of goals going for him. He had like, you know, 17 goals across all competitions and actually more of that, sorry, the Belgian League is always interesting with the playoffs stuff. Because they split it, yeah. Breaking it up, yeah. 17 league goals in like 1800 league minutes.

It's really strong. And so he's shown that he can do it at that level. What can he bring to the Canadian national team? And same thing with Jepson. Which one of these guys, or both, hopefully, are able to be difference makers on the national stage? Again, you have Jonathan David, Kyle Lahren. You have plenty of options, obviously.

So these guys could just be additive. And which one of them, if if either will pull ahead of the other Yeah this summer it is Clearly a big part of Jesse's job that he's getting out and talking to people It's interesting to hear the the convo with Tristan Blackman Like you're talking to a player who does not have residency yet and like is in a prelim roster for a different national team And I think for fans, it feels like right now that they're leaving no stone unturned.

And that's really big for a Canada team that has sort of shot itself in the foot for years and has so many issues off the field. A lot of them have been moving in the right direction, but like, you gotta feel good. Not just that Jesse's convincing some of these players, but they're doing it the right way of like, come into camp, train, right?

Don't commit. Like we're not just trying to get you on the field for a game so you have to play for us. And having these talks with people who maybe will never play for your national team or maybe will play for a different one but worth the conversation to see where they stand and what they could be. And I think a really big summer coming up for Canada

alongside for the U.S. will of course cover it all for you here at Soccer Wise. We did not finish fully on our US Open Cup Convo. So let's finish there and then we'll touch on the weekend coming up for a minute. But we had Nashville Orlando fans who said, don't forget about us. I had said Orlando was my favorite in this competition in the last show. Jokes! I got all of you with that one. You all thought I was serious.

Of course I wasn't serious. Orlando put out a really strong group rotation at the top, but Ramiro Enrique we thought would be the starter coming into this year, but you had Ojeda start, you had Janssen start, you had Gaiase start. A lot of first team pieces in this. And then Nashville did rotate. They took Surge and Honey Muptar out of the team. You see a little bit of this DNA that BJ Callahan has built.

It kind of feels somewhat like what we're talking about with Vancouver. High floor players, players who understand the game at a similar level, players who can connect. And when you have a superstar like Wyatt Meyer just in a group to affect people, right? It lifts your soul when you walk out on a field and you're like, we've got the Wyatt in our back pocket. And he does it once again. I watched that highlight multiple times and be like, did they get the name? Was that actually him or did they just see the wrong jersey number?

And that was like, play left back that's right like dude he whipped that what a goal um speaking of goals like posse lech because they lost and I was the first goal of a five goal game I think that was a goal tonight for me um I know it's awesome he's done this two or three times now oh hey does it as well they break the back of the net when they hit a shot and it's like really impressive 25 yards out and the keeper is like, can't even react. Doesn't move. From 25 yards out.

Like that's how, that's how, wow. Fossum's goal as well, doesn't get, isn't defended. No one steps to him. That's the mistake on the top of the 18. Placed it into the far corner though. He's that like next piece. He is when you look at this group and you say, who's gonna create something out of nothing?

Hany's first. And they've always been looking for that other, like someone else that can just make the game easier for other players. Quasim's that guy. And he has taken steps almost every week moving towards that. Goss theorem, right?

We're not gonna see, I, a young international peak this year, but he does a lot for this team. This looks very good this year. And now you look at a Nashville group that's playing DC United in the next round. And then they would have the winner of Philadelphia New York Red Bulls. On the other side, Minnesota plays Chicago, San Jose plays Austin, and then the winners of that will face off in the semifinals as well.

Do you have a new pick to set as your favorite based on the way things line up? I went with Minnesota and I'm sticking to that. Okay. All right. One funny thing about going to, like just trying to have the bracket up while we're talking or have the list up,

on Wikipedia, they put the state flag next to the team name. So it looks like a different country. Funny little rig, I was like, what is this yellow flag next to the team name. Oh so it looks like a different country. Funny little wrinkles like what is this yellow flag next to the red. I was like oh New Jersey what's up. Whoa what up NJ. I will say I like this Nashville group. I think the floor is really high for them. DC in the next round is obviously as favorable a matchup as you had. They just beat Red Bulls in league play. I thought they played the Red Bulls pretty well at New York in their opening few weeks and was a little unfortunate with that result. Philly-Nashville I think is as good a semifinal as we could ask for with the way those teams are playing and would mean something bigger for what are we going to see down the road

in the Eastern Conference because I think we're talking about two teams that are in the top four, top five when this season ends. And so this is a big opportunity for those teams and it's going to be fun to watch this Open Cup play out. Let's finish off with the weekend. We talked to Tristan about RSL. Go to altitude, play midweek, then go to Mexico and play in a final. That's one of the big games for Saturday get started fairly early with Seattle Dallas Which is kind of bizarre because it's like a noon local time kickoff

Then you've got San Diego LA Galaxy as the second game Which is a really fun one as well And of course San Diego beat the galaxy in their first ever game this time now at home as the galaxy still look for their First ever win. And then Philly Miami at 7 30 p.m eastern time. I thought Philly going down to Miami was going to be a like we are genuinely here match that wasn't the case for Philly. They had that performance against Columbus though. Miami are in this tailspin. Messi will only talk to McKelley Giannone. Of course.

McKelley though is able to get some of those answers out of him. And it feels like this could be a big moment for this union squad. It is, but it's a big moment for Miami too. Like they desperately need a win. It doesn't matter that they're on the road against a really, really good team. Like to be in this run of form, like they've got to be desperate for points coming to this. So it's a big game for both sides. And like you said, Goss, like, they've already played each other, Miami won in Miami.

And now Philly have the chance to pay the, repay that favor and continue to create more and more distance between themselves and Miami. They're already seven points ahead of Miami. I know Miami have a game in hand, but this is like I wrote I was writing something this week about like kind of five teams I'm super interested in over the next like few weeks because there's love a list. Not a better 11 of teams you're interested in with 17 honorary mentions. This is the time of year where you go Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday,

Saturday. And it's just like feels like a slog because it's games 12 through 17 of the Major League Soccer season where 70% of the teams like the playoffs. So this is where, if you're an average team, you stay average. But if you want to really be in the hierarchy in the East or West, if you go through this round with 10 points over four games,

then all of a sudden, Philadelphia have a seven point cushion on fifth place or something like that. So these are the really important games for the teams that are like, okay, our squad depth is really strong, our mentality is really strong, we are who we think we are. And then one more point on Philly is that

it gets harder to play this style, the way that they cover ground, the way that they have to be so intense all the time when you're playing every third day. So you need to rely on that squad depth and you need to rely on Bradley Cardell and the coaching staff keeping the players sharp and keeping it like, cause if this style drops 5% they are average. And that is always the tight rope that this kind of team and this kind of style is gonna walk your Hope is with these open cup games. You've started to push some other players into the group Can you have a little bit of depth as a Philadelphia team?

And obviously Kevin Sullivan's young obviously, you know David Vasquez is young but like that's what they chose to build this around Can you use as many of those players? To keep it fresh as you get into the summer, as you get into the heat, as you get into all the games? The other thing, as you said, is like, this is the slog that when we get to September and we look back and we're like, oh, these teams have a shot at the shield,

this is where you picked up points. And that I think is where we sort of had that Cincinnati conversation on Thursday, where it's like, yeah, they haven't been great, but they picked up the points. That's the job right now is just make sure that you put yourself in a driver's seat to control your own destiny.

As you get further down the road, that's what this Philly Miami game is like. I think Orlando Portland sort of goes into that as well. These are two teams that can push into a top four. There also could be like a thousand goals in this game. This has three, three written all over it, which normally means it ends up being one, zero. But the hope is that it ends up being three, three.

I think the under a low key, this is the best game of the weekend. It ends with Atlanta FC Cincinnati, which we thought would be this like high spending extravagant thing. And instead it's Garth Lagerway chiming in his support for Ronnie Dila this early into it because this is an Atlanta team that has looked uncomfortable inside of their own skin, uncomfortable as a group and it's like the polar opposite of the convo we're having around

Vancouver and it's unfortunate because we thought this would be a high-flying group and they've been anything but that. Yeah, I totally agree. And I like I love that turn a phrase of they don't feel comfortable in their own skin like that. That's what it feels like when you're watching these games. There's just disjointed and anytime you kind of feel like things might turn or like, again, the fun part about MLS is like you string together two wins here

over a four day span and things are completely different. But then the other side of that is if you get a draw and three losses here over 10 days, then it feels feels really, really bad. So this is a crucial time of the season for Atlanta that they got to get gone or they're going to miss the bus. Yeah, it's now or never. One big one for the weekend to note Saturday evening Atlantic Cup Can these two teams take what happened the momentum from midweek and push it forward? I think this this did not land in our top five rivalries for a reason These two teams have not played

Over the course of the last ten or so years They haven't played the high-level games that you'd want Nick de Leon ain't walking through that door bro. Bill Hamid not walking through that door. Andrew Boyans. Brad Wright Phillips ain't walking through that door. Andrew Boyans not walking through that door. Hunter Freeman not walking through that door. There's a lot of players that have been a part of some of the great battles between these two clubs. Very few like Lloyd Sam who have done it on both sides and yet somehow has the loyalty of both sides. That is a Lloyd Sam special. He's extraordinarily likable.

Of course he is, he's so charismatic. Nice to see me being on the planet. And can even speak to it now and be like, ah, I hated DC, then I hated Red Bulls, but I love them both. And everyone's like, cool, dude, I'm down for this. That one comes up Saturday. They both got big open cup results.

This is a momentum game of like, can you ride off the back of that and can you sort of bring that into league play? There's some ideas you're seeing with DC play out at a higher level. And I still like a lot of this Red Bull group. I liked seeing Stroud get the start in central midfield. I like what he brings to this team. I like some of what you've seen in the attack.

Wiki Carmona has been really good for, you know, spots in this season. Julian Hall's gotten some opportunities. Obviously, we've talked about Sofo, what he's been able to do for this team, the emphasis he gives, the attack he gives, the speed, the energy, just being sort of locked in and tuned into the game. Can they start to put it all together more consistently is the big question for them. Okay, thank you to all of you for joining us, but most especially thank you to Tristan Blackman for taking the time to join us and thank you for the Vancouver Whitecaps for putting that together and setting that up. We are getting trolled in the chat right now about the Nixon Pacers.

I've never heard of either of those teams. I've never heard of any of it, but still Nixon Five. It all stays there. The heart is still there. Thank you to all of you for here live chatting with us. Thank you to you, Tom, and we'll talk to you all again very, very soon. You